Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 9, 2020
Suspending the Campaign, Not the Movement: Sanders Pulls Out of 2020 Race But Will Stay on Ballot
Senator Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive nominee to face Donald Trump in November. Sanders says he will stay on the ballot in remaining primary races and continue to assemble delegates. We play highlights from Sanders’s speech to supporters in a live stream on Wednesday. “Together, we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice,” he said.
One Mask for Five 12-Hour Shifts: Harlem Hospital Nurses Demand Better Protection Amid Pandemic
As New York state's death toll from coronavirus passes 4,000, nurses and medical workers on the frontlines in New York City are protesting for better protections. We go to a demonstration outside Harlem Hospital to speak with Sarah Dowd, a registered nurse who works in its medical/surgical unit and has been treating COVID-19-positive patients. She is a member of the New York State Nurses Association union. "This is not a time for people to be sitting on the sidelines," Dowd says. "We need to make big demands of the system."
"Leaving Us Here to Die": Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infection Rates
U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued an emergency order Friday calling for the release of vulnerable federal prisoners into home confinement amid the coronavirus crisis. This news comes as at least 16 states have also released prisoners. We look at the treatment of incarcerated people in New York state, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to grant anyone freedom despite at least 24 confirmed cases among state prisoners. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he'll release about 300 people from Rikers Island and other city jails, but advocates are calling for far more to be freed. We speak to José Diaz, a New York University graduate student who was just released from Rikers on Saturday morning. We also speak with José Saldana, director of the group Releasing Aging People in Prison.
NY Bishop Explains Why St John Divine Cathedral Is Working with Fundamentalist Group During Pandemic
As millions of worshipers around the globe enter the month of April preparing to celebrate Holy Week, Passover and Ramadan in the age of coronavirus, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan is set to open its doors to 400 beds for non-COVID-19 patients to make more space in the hospitals for those suffering from the coronavirus. But there's a catch: The city is partnering with the Christian fundamentalist group Samaritan's Purse, led by Franklin Graham, a virulently Islamophobic, anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ preacher. Last week, the group erected an emergency field hospital in Central Park to treat spillover patients from Mount Sinai Hospital. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to send aides to monitor the group to prevent discrimination against patients. We speak to Bishop Clifton Daniel, the dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, who says he rejects the values of Samaritan's Purse but welcomes their help regardless. "We are in the business of saving lives and helping people," Dean Daniel says. "If you are in the desert dying of thirst and somebody hands you a glass of water, you don't check their driver's license. You just say 'thank you.'"
Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais says "...it's a couple of quid but it makes a huge difference". Thanks so much for your support Ricky - you are so right! At this critical time please give what you can to help us care for more bears rescued from bile farms.
Make the Most of Staying Indoors with Your Companion Animals
Staying home isn't so bad when you have the companionship of a rescued animal
Aurora and Goldie bear hug it out.
Everyone could do with a big bear hug at the moment. Aurora and Goldie are the sun bears for the job! Aurora (left) knows too well how terrible isolation can be having spent 15 years alone in a tiny cage. Goldie (right) was poached as a cub and probably lost his mother to the traffickers. Since we rescued them to our Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre their rehabilitation has been just remarkable. We will never abandon these very special and playful bears, whatever the crisis. They're a reminder that there is light at the end of every tunnel. Please share this big bear hug with someone you'd like to give a hug to right now.
Blissful time in the pool with rescued moon bears. Our rescued moon bears prove that there's light at the end of the tunnel. After years or decades in enforced isolation you've helped create new blissful lives.
Also visit www.animalsasia.org/donate if you'd like to show Aurora and Goldie some love too!
#QuarantineTip - A workout with rescued animals Last February @Rebecca-Louise visited our LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary and shot some of her motivating fitness videos there. She uses this kind of communication to raise awareness about animal welfare, thanks so much for that. Our rescued animals definitely enjoyed the welcomed relief - check out her workout series on YouTube, click here and try out a workout with lion Saeed in the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rJ9j...
NYC nurse calls to nationalize the U.S. healthcare system
As New York state's death toll from coronavirus passes 4,000, nurses and medical workers on the frontlines in New York City are protesting for better protections. Sarah Dowd, a registered nurse who works in its medical/surgical unit and has been treating COVID-19-positive patients, spoke to Democracy Now! from the demonstration she helped organize outside Harlem Hospital on Monday. She is a member of the New York State Nurses Association union. "The issue here is that we are looking at a system of healthcare — not just in New York, but throughout the country — that prioritizes extracting a profit," says Dowd, who supports Medicare for All but says the U.S. should go even further, such as nationalizing the healthcare system. "This is what happens when you have people running the system that are not direct workers, when they're absorbed with their bottom line, and the politicians who write the policy are owned by them — and really the people that suffer are the people on the frontlines and the patients."
AOC on Bernie Sanders and the future of progressive politics
New York congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, says that while both she and the senator are pushing for more comprehensive relief in the face of the coronavirus, the fight for a more progressive future continues. Ocasio-Cortez cites single-payer healthcare systems, an agenda to address the climate crisis, liveable wages and justice for incarcerated people and immigrants as issues that need serious attention. "We need to make sure that there are very strong accommodations made for a progressive future in our country," she says. "We need to have a strong agenda across the board." She did not confirm that Sanders will continue as a presidential candidate until the Democratic National Convention but stated that he "makes these decisions one day at a time" and is looking ahead to the next primary.
Journalist on Wisconsin Election: Republicans Are Letting People Die in Order to Hang On to Power...Risking death to vote: Wisconsin Republicans refuse to delay elections during the pandemic
Lines stretching city blocks, hours-long waits and polling officials in hazmat suits. That's the scene voters in Wisconsin encountered as they braved the polls Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite growing outcry about the risks to public health and safety that in-person voting would pose, on Monday the state Supreme Court blocked Democratic Governor Tony Evers's ruling to delay the election until June. At least 92 people in Wisconsin have died from exposure to COVID-19. In Milwaukee — the most diverse city in Wisconsin — the number of polling stations went from 180 to five. We speak with Jesse Wegman, longtime journalist and member of The New York Times editorial board.
Wisconsinites headed to the polls Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite growing outcry about the risks to public health and safety that in-person voting would pose. This came after the Republican state legislature refused to consider delaying elections or sending all voters mail-in ballots. "We're watching, right now, a purge of Wisconsin voters," says New York Times journalist and author Jesse Wegman, who argues that Republicans' foothold on power depends on a low voter turnout. "They got their purge yesterday, by keeping so many voters home, by forcing others to show up who now may end up getting sick and dying — literally. And
Amazon “Profiting from This Pandemic” as Warehouse Workers Walk Off Job to Demand Safer Conditions
Just a week after Amazon fired a worker who led a walkout, workers at the same Staten Island warehouse walked off the job again Monday to protest unsafe working conditions as online orders soar during the pandemic. We get an update from Angeles Solis, lead organizer at Make the Road New York, which helped organize the strike. Solis helps lead the group’s Beyond Amazon coalition in New York City. If Amazon doesn’t do more to protect workers, “they are not only profiting from this pandemic, but they’re helping to perpetuate it,” Solis says. We also talk about mutual aid organizing among immigrant and low-income communities, and Make the Road’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.
Storytime: “Hey, Little Ant”
You Won’t Believe What Happened to These Chained Dogs
THIS is just one reason keeping dogs chained is cruelty — and it’s more common than you’d think. These collars were SO TIGHT that they grew into and embedded in dogs’ necks! Stop this from ever happening to dogs near you.
Students Caught Playing with Dissected Cats' Intestines
According to two videos, which were posted publicly on Facebook and sent to PETA by a concerned whistleblower, students at Winston Churchill High School in Texas played “jump rope” with a dissected cat’s intestines.
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Top U.S. & World Headlines
The Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know These Facts About Cashmere
Do you know the effects cashmere has on the environment? It's estimated that 70% of Mongolia’s grasslands have degraded largely because of the demand for it. Desertification like this can cause dust storms reaching all the way to the U.S.
Anyone who has ever felt or even thought of the pain of losing a loved one knows that there is nothing quite as excruciating. Every pet owner's nightmare is waking up and finding that his/her beloved one has been taken. Across Southeast Asia, this is a reality for millions of dogs and cats that get stolen and killed for the dog and cat meat trade. Please support our campaign against this horrible crime http://bit.ly/DogAndCatMeat
Students Learn How to Be Heroes for All Animals
PETA's mission statement is that animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way: https://www.peta.org/about-peta/
Blind kitten sits in a parking lot and wonders how will she survive in this world.
Luckily for Kenshi, Hope For Paws got a call about her, and things turned around quickly once JoAnn Wiltz and Katie McKittrick arrived.
I really hope this will help convince you to join us with a small donation: https://www.HopeForPaws.org Two days after the rescue, the mom, dad and the two siblings were captured too. The mom and dad never had human contact, so Loreta Hernandez and Jessica Holguin got them spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and released. They are fed daily, and they are happy. It is important to understand that there are THREE MILLION feral cats in Los Angeles and it's a real challenge. The best we can do is to try and get as many as possible fixed. Kitten season is almost here, and it's just a nightmare to be born to these conditions and I feel so sad for the ones we never hear about.
If you would like to see a longer version that includes the surgical procedure, you can see it here: https://rumble.com/user/HopeForPaws - it's not for everybody...the surgery shows the removal of the eyes, but it really brings you closer to the things they have to deal with.
Kenshi was adopted to the most amazing home - you just have to see this kitten with the dogs at the end! Kung Lao and Raiden are still looking for a home, and if you would like to adopt them, please contact our friends at: https://www.KittyBungalow.org Thanks for sharing our videos with your friends who LOVE cats :-) Eldad
